Economic Weekly | www.ceweekly.cn
Staff Reporter Zhang Yan
Recently, the U.S. Trade Representative released the results of the 301 investigation based on allegations of "unreasonable practices" by China in the maritime transport, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. The plan is to impose a series of restrictive measures on China's maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries.The restrictions are numerous, roughly meaning that whether it is a ship made in China or used in China, once it arrives in the United States, substantial fees will be levied. In contrast, for American companies and ships manufactured in the United States, there are a series of exemptions and preferential policies.This inevitably brings to mind the classic slogan of piracy: "This road was built by me, this tree was planted by me. If you want to pass, pay the toll."In short, the U.S. still wants to revitalize its domestic shipbuilding industry.Previously, Trump revealed that he would establish a "Shipbuilding Office" at the White House to revive the U.S. shipbuilding industry.Port of Los Angeles, California, USA. Xinhua News Agency.No wonder Trump has been so attached to the U.S. shipbuilding industry. At one time, the U.S. shipbuilding industry was the world leader. However, with the implementation of the U.S. deindustrialization policy, manufacturing was considered heavy assets, not as profitable as high-tech and finance, which are "light assets." As a result, the shipbuilding industry gradually became marginalized, leading to severe talent loss.A report by the Financial Times in 2024 pointed out that the U.S. commercial vessel output accounts for less than 1% of the world total, dropping to 19th place globally.Meanwhile, China's ocean-going vessel production over the past 20 years has been three times that of the U.S. For example, in 2023, China produced more than 1,000 ocean-going vessels, while the U.S. only produced 10.
Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, multiple large ships under construction simultaneously. Xinhua News Agency.A statistical report by British research firm Clarkson Research also shows that U.S. shipbuilding capacity is very limited, with only 0.1% of global orders on hand.Even so, Trump's "shipbuilding dream" still sounds ambitious. He said, "Within seven years after the implementation of the new policy, at least 15% of U.S. exports will be transported by ships flying the U.S. flag, and 5% of the fleet will be made in the U.S."However, the industry does not hold much optimism. The New York Times quoted the evaluation of the CEO of a Danish container shipping consulting company, stating, "U.S. shipyards simply cannot achieve this. From a professional perspective, this idea is very 'stupid'."This executive gave an example: it takes more than three years for U.S. shipyards to build a new container ship. Now encouraging shipbuilding means starting almost from scratch, which requires billions of dollars in investment and many years of accumulated effort.High costs constrain the development of the U.S. shipbuilding industry.One of the only two shipyards in the U.S. still building commercial vessels - Philadelphia Shipyard – charges about $333 million per small container ship for the three ships built for Matson Navigation Company, while the cost for Chinese shipyards to build similar vessels is only $55 million.How can they possibly compete?Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that in 2024, China accounted for 55.7%, 74.1%, and 63.1% of the world market share for shipbuilding completion volume, new order volume, and backlog order volume respectively, with the industry continuing to grow steadily.Forbes magazine sees clearly: the decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry is the consequence of deindustrialization. After the Cold War, U.S. companies virtually abandoned the production of industrial products ranging from smartphones to aluminum. Some closed shipyards have been converted into national parks, container terminals, etc.S&P Global Platts believes that in the near to medium term, the proportion of ships built in the U.S. in the global fleet will not significantly increase, as the U.S. shipbuilding industry lacks the ability to meet current demand.For China's shipbuilding industry, despite the U.S. threat to charge fees, some major shipping companies continue to place orders with Chinese shipyards, indicating that the global shipping industry will remain dependent on China.
Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Xinhua News Agency.American manufacturing wants to regain its former glory, which is no easy task. It must make massive investments in capital, technology, and talent, as well as make up for the supporting industrial chain.Biden administration's attempts fully prove this point: within a year of implementing the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips Act, Biden administration announced approximately $227.9 billion worth of investment projects. However, currently, nearly 40% of these projects have been delayed or suspended.Editor-in-Charge: Zhou QiWeChat Duty Editor: Zhou Qi Zheng YangboOriginal Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7496037170487165455/
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